Virginia Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. announced Thursday that he’ll introduce a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights for some nonviolent felons, create new barriers for others, and strip future governors of the power to restore political rights.

On Tuesday the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments in a suit challenging Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) April order that restored voting rights to 200,000 Virginians with past felony convictions. While the court proceedings will stick to legal arguments, the public debate has been needlessly rancorous and partisan.

Los Angeles County probation Chief Jerry Powers said he hasn't heard the question over allowing low-level felons to vote posed better than by his 12-year-old son: "Dad, what part of voting makes us less safe?"

A Florida campaign to restore voting rights to an estimated 2 million residents—mostly low-income people of color who have felony convictions on their record but never even were imprisoned—could be a political game changer in that influential state.

James W. Ray sat silently in the front row of the church meeting room, rubbing his eyes. Ray wasn’t mourning a loss. Rather, the Vietnam veteran and felon wept over something that had just been returned to him — the right to vote.

DES MOINES, Iowa - The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit on behalf of Kelli Jo Griffin, an Iowa mom who is striving to regain her right to vote. Griffin lost her voting rights in 2008 following a nonviolent drug conviction. She completed her probation but is no longer allowed to vote due to that conviction.

Mercedies Harris strolls down the halls of the Hollaback and Restore Project, a felon rehabilitation center in rural Virginia, and points to a baby-faced 18-year-old with a timid gait. “This is a fine young gentleman who got into a little trouble,” he explains. “And we are working with him to try to stop him from being a statistic and being incarcerated and having a record. He’s going to learn to be a barista. And if he gets good, he’ll be known for it,” he chuckles. “People will be coming here to get his coffee.”